They didn't play Enter Sandman at Fenway Park, but Mariano Rivera feels right at home hearing nothing but cheers from Red Sox fans in the ninth.

BOSTON — Mariano Rivera started trotting in from the bullpen in the ninth to put away the Red Sox Saturday and a funny thing happened at Fenway — most everyone in the crowd of 37,601 stood and cheered a man who had sent them home unhappy so many times in the past.

Yes, you can even add Red Sox fans to the season-long love affair with the Yanks’ superlative closer, who is retiring after this year. As a video urging the Sox to rally —with Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as its soundtrack — finished playing on the scoreboard, Rivera went to work and tried to make sure no rally would happen.

Rivera succeeded, nailing down his 35th career save at the Fens. He allowed a hit after retiring David Ortiz on a foul-out to third, but then struck out Jonny Gomes and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to seal a 5-2 Yankee victory. Rivera has converted his last 12 save chances in Boston, dating back to June 3, 2007.

The ovation was a wonderful moment in a Yankee-Red Sox rivalry that has been bitter and bloody at times. The days when real anger emanated from each dugout as beanballs flew and fans, both the swells and the workaday folks, howled, are not so long ago.

So take a moment, Yankee fans, to appreciate what the Boston fans did Saturday. Rivera wears a uniform they despise, yet they applauded anyway. All-Star Game afterglow? Maybe. But Sox fans seem determined to recognize Rivera — he even heard some applause when he crossed the field to go to the bullpen midgame.

The cheers and the save closed quite a day in the Olde Towne for Rivera. Before the Yanks took batting practice, he went to a Fenway suite to meet and greet Bostonians and Red Sox employees, something he’s been doing all season in opposing parks. He described this experience as “beautiful, wonderful.”

He took photos with two brothers from Stoneham, Mass., J.P. and Paul Norden, who each lost a leg in the Boston Marathon bombing. There were two patients who are being helped by the Sox’s cancer charity, The Jimmy Fund. Rivera chatted with several longtime Sox employees and gave everyone autographed baseballs. He even led applause after The Jimmy Fund patients, Fernando Morales and Harry Clark, told their stories.

“There was a kid, Fernando, who has cancer and is going to therapy and he shared his story,” Rivera said. “He wants to play soccer, baseball but he couldn’t. But he’s not giving up. He’s doing different things.”

Rivera appreciates the ovation but says he needs to keep his focus, which he does, notching his 31st save of the season.

Rivera said he might out get more of these meetings than anyone “because of the stories, the inspirations.”

Rivera has never been the kind of rivalry villain that other Yankees have become — anyone remember the glee in Boston following the Alex Rodriguez-Jason Varitek punch-up? He admits he has always loved pitching here, especially because the stakes have been so high so many times.

He even had been cheered before, in 2005, when he came to Boston for the first time since blowing two saves in the infamous 2004 AL Championship Series collapse. Rivera broke into a grin at the time and tipped his cap. In other words, he got it.

He still does. He said Saturday that he was aware of the ovation as he came in, but he was concentrating on work. “I have to stay focused, you know what I mean?” he said. “I’m definitely going to hear it, but paying attention and hearing it are two different things. I don’t want to sound rude, but I don’t pay attention. It’s always been a hard ballgame here and I leave it the way it is. I respect the organization and the fans and that’s why I give it back.”

Rivera described the ovation as “great. They are fans. They know baseball and they appreciate, I guess. Definitely, I appreciate the same sentiment back.”

The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has been so compelling for so long for so many reasons. Drama, heat, amazing performances — it’s had it all. It was nice that, for a day, anyway, we could see a softer side of it, too.